(Right picture) At the event, PM Lee also launched the Jalan Kayu Care and Share initiative, involving students from Central ITE, who helped to sort the dry rations which will be distributed to needy families. -- ST PHOTOS: NG SOR LUAN

(Right picture) At the event, PM Lee also launched the Jalan Kayu Care and Share initiative, involving students from Central ITE, who helped to sort the dry rations which will be distributed to needy families. -- ST PHOTOS: NG SOR LUAN

By Phua Mei Pin

When student Nelson Lim, 18, went door to door in Jalan Kayu asking for donations of dry rations, he met residents who asked him to wait while they ran downstairs to buy provisions just to have more to donate.

"They really want to help," he said. "Some have even pledged to give every month." Since June this year, grassroots volunteers have been going to flats in Jalan Kayu to ask for donations of food items such as canned food and biscuits.

These are distributed to families in need, including those on government aid and on incomes of less than $450 per household member. To date, 120 families have donated food and 200 families have benefited.

This is part of a new Jalan Kayu Care and Share scheme that Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong launched yesterday as a highlight of the annual Jalan Kayu Day.